A Lesson for Mordred
by Auttzthoughtz
Summary: HAPPY FATHERS DAY! This is the sequel for 'A Lesson for Arthur' that I promised, and I thought that if any fic was going to be one specifically for the holiday, this would work. Description: Things with their daughter don't go quite as planned when she runs away, and she runs into an old enemy. What happens when things with Mordred don't go as they thought, or he thought? Enjoy!


A Lesson for Mordred

Aralynn had gone out running to the woods, with what most considered no particular reason other than teenage angst. She wasn't allowed to train with the knights, even with all her pleading. It was frustrating, because between her magic and natural talent, she thinks that she could make a fine knight. However, the royal rules state still that only men can be knights. Which Arthur or Merlin could change for her, if they wanted to do so. However, neither parent wants to see their child in that type of danger.

She ran and ran, sure that her significantly older parents wouldn't dare keep up, until she ran smack into a stranger. This stranger only looked about a decade older than her, and who had a very kind-yet-sad face. Aralynn got up from where she had fallen and started apologizing. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't mean to be in your way, I was just running and-"

A small smile appeared on the man's face. "No, it's alright. No harm done, just a scrape or so," the man said as he hoisted himself back to his feet. "The real question is if you are in danger?"

Aralynn flushed deep crimson. "No, I just was running from home. I had a bit of a fight with my parents."

"How old are you?" The man asked with a slightly larger smile.

"I'm seventeen," Aralynn huffed. "Why, how old are you?"

"I am only twenty-seven, if you must know," the man said, chuckling. "Guess it's to your surprise I'm not so much older than you."

"Ten years is still a fair gap," Aralynn said teasingly.

"What's your name young lady?" The man asked.

Aralynn smiled. "My name is Aralynn Igraine Pendragon, but you can call me Ara."

"Oh, would you excuse me," the man exclaimed in a sarcastic-type tone, bowing a bit. "I didn't know I was in the presence of a princess."

Aralynn rolled her eyes. "You could be a bit more respectful, I'm guessing my father will eventually catch up."

"Do you want him to?" The man asked very honestly.

Aralynn sighed. "Eventually, perhaps. I just want some time away first, though. Not that it's quite possible to get that."

The man shrugged. "Well, I can help you get away for a little while, if I'm not too much of creepy old man."

Aralynn smiled sheepishly. "I don't even know your name."

"My name is Mordred, it's nice to meet somebody's acquaintance around here," Mordred said carefully.

Aralynn nodded. "Well, Mordred, it looks like you've met somebody's acquaintance for a little while."

"It seems so," Mordred said, a devious smirk on his face.

*Back at the Castle*

"Our daughter is missing, Merlin, missing," Arthur said in a panicked tone. "We can't exactly run after her every time she decides to do this."

Merlin smiled gently, coming up to his husband's side. "She'll be back home soon enough. The knights are out looking for her, whom is much more physically able to carry out the duty of this search. I think we just need to relax a bit."

"But-"

"I know, Arthur," Merlin said, pulling his husband into his arms and holding on tight. "I know. Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

*A Year Later*

Mordred's original plan was simple. Bring the princess somewhere secluded, hide her away from the kingdom, and eventually perhaps kill her to take his revenge on Camelot. He'd been taught his whole life he was to despise them, and after being the only magical entity not allowed back in the kingdom or ever given guidance there, his ties to the place were in a negative light.

However, as he took Aralynn to his cottage in the woods, things changed.

Aralynn was a fantastic girl. She would practice enchantments and magic with him. She had the ability to keep her own in practice for dueling and fencing. Aralynn was not only a true knight, but a true heir for Camelot. Mordred should hate her, right? That's what he kept thinking.

She never once asked to go home. Not even once. Aralynn had grown fond of Mordred's company, and of the non-royal treatment she got out in the wild. She loved being treated like an equal and not the fragile daughter/princess that everyone treated her as back in Camelot. Her bed was comfortable, the company was good. There were odd days she missed her dads, her Aunt Morgana, and all her friends from the round table. But those times were short, as they were always occupied by some kind of fun or adventure with her new companion.

The last concern she had: was this more than friendship? They'd not brought it up, but there was always moments. Moments where more seemed possible, and more was evidently on the edge of being there.

None of that definition stuff really mattered to her, really. It wasn't about that. It was about each of them finally having somebody. For Mordred to have someone from Camelot who didn't treat him like a monster, and for Aralynn to have someone who didn't treat her like a delicate young lady. They needed each other, and neither wanted to admit that Aralynn would eventually have to return home.

They hadn't discussed Camelot much. Aralynn surely spoke of her fathers and how she really did love them. She spoke of her Aunt Morgana and how sometimes, when she was very good, her aunt would allow her to channel the ability to see things in dreams and learn Morgana's namesake craft. Aralynn spoke of how Morgana didn't need a man in her life, although sometimes you could see just how much she wanted children.

She spoke of her Uncle Gwaine, that after years of bar wenches, finally settled down when he realized what was right in front of him and married the loyal knight Percival. Who, after all, never made Gwaine give up his nights at the tavern as they went together when her parents were kind enough to give nights off, which was more often than not with the residing peace in Camelot that had been occurring.

One day though, Aralynn had to bring it up. She was sitting on the bench outside the home, thinking, when Mordred came to sit beside her. "Is something wrong Ara? You seem…off."

"I don't know," Aralynn said. "On one hand I could stay out here forever, and I would always be mostly happy. But, on another note, I know they are still looking for me. Sometimes I see knights in the woods and run to hide, but sometimes it is hard not to go to them. My family is in Camelot, but my life is here."

"The only thing you have to lose is me, and would that really be such a horrible loss?" Mordred asked solemnly.

"Yes," Aralynn said, smiling. "You don't even know how much you've done for me, and I don't want to leave you behind. I want you to come with me, but something tells me you'd say no if I asked."

"I'd love more than anything to live happily with you in Camelot, Ara," Mordred said in a small voice. "But, you must understand, I have a history with Camelot. That's why I live as a nomad out here, I can't be allowed back there. I didn't want to tell you why, I still don't. I don't want you to think differently of me."

"Well," Aralynn said, pulling up her legs and sitting on her legs on the bench, facing herself to Mordred. "I don't think you could lose me now. I'd tell me now, if I were you. Maybe I can help."

"You were probably pretty young when it happened," Mordred said slowly. "I was part of this…this, cult of sorts. These people were druids and they were possessed with evil magic. They wanted a proper magical heir to take over Camelot, and even with Merlin on the second throne they were not appeased. They sent me into battle against Camelot and most of them died. I was the last one to stand and stay. I've not seen any of them since. But, in the battle, I stabbed King Arthur to the point where I was sure he would be dead. I didn't know he had a daughter, I didn't know things had changed in Camelot. I couldn't know. I heard that Merlin managed to find Arthur a cure in just the last few seconds before he would have died. I don't even know if they would've told you, but it happened. I didn't know until I got to know you that I was truly wrong in doing what I did."

Aralynn closed her eyes, slumping back to sit. "I don't care."

"Yes, you do," Mordred said, feeling sobs escape him. "I can't change the past and I'm sorry for that." Mordred got up from his seat and tried to walk away.

Aralynn looked up through her lashes and waited until he was a sufficient distance away before jumping up herself to chase him down the hill and tackle him. When she did tackle him, he yelped in surprise and she giggled as she hovered over him. "You are right, you can't change the past. That doesn't matter. What you do going forward and past your actions is what matters."

"You had to tackle me to say that?" Mordred said, now chuckling.

Aralynn grinned. "No, that was just some bonus fun."

Mordred smiled back at Aralynn and then they proceeded to play-fight and accidentally start rolling down the hill. Mordred falling in one direction and Aralynn down the other. Aralynn didn't stop falling until she hit someone's feet, one that looked far too familiar. Aralynn looked up and held a shy grin on her face. "GWAINE!"

"Ara- ARALYNN!" Gwaine exclaimed happily, sounding a bit exasperated. He pulled her to her feet and into a hug. "It's been a whole year, how are you still well? Where have you been?" Gwaine let her go for a moment. "Who did you stay with?"

"Well," Aralynn began, and as she did Mordred came running up.

"Ara," Mordred said breathlessly. "You got to stop rolling away on me!"

Aralynn giggled. "It was an accident. Mordred, this is Gwaine. Gwaine-"

"Mordred," Gwaine said, his expression visibly twisting to anger. "You-"

"No, Gwaine, don't-"

"Did he kidnap you? Is that why you've been gone for an entire year?" Gwaine asked incredulously. "Getting to be friends with the man that almost succeeded in killing you father. That was such a plan of vengeance? PERCIVAL!"

"He's here too!" Araylnn said, smiling weakly to diffuse the tension. "It's nice that you had your husband to help you search. I'm sorry it has been so long, but please believe me when I say that he is-"

Gwaine shook his head, grasping her arm as Percival came up and got a grip on Mordred. "We'll let your parents determine what he is."

*Back to Camelot*

Aralynn walks into the room first, stumbling a bit and trying to hold back tears, knowing that Mordred is being currently escorted down to the dungeons. Merlin looks up first, and this beautiful bright smile comes upon his face as he sees his daughter. He practically sprints across the room to scoop her into his arms. "Please, please, don't ever do that again. Aralynn, we thought you dead!"

Aralynn is brought herself to tears. "Papa, I missed you. I'm so sorry that I didn't write. I should've wrote a letter, but I wasn't ready to be found yet."

"Why?" Merlin asked, letting her go ever-so-slightly to be able to look at her. "Where have you been spending the year?"

As if on cue, Gwaine walks in behind her. She flinches and moves a few steps away, knowing the scolding that's to come. "She's been in the captivity of an old enemy. You remember Mordred, do you not, Merlin?"

Arthur's head snapped up. "How the _hell_ did you end up finding Mordred?"

"I very literally ran right into him, and he had a small cottage not too far down from Camelot and I was allowed-"

"Allowed to what? You've been gone for a full year, giving up everything else, for the man that almost," Arthur stopped, trying to breathe. "You realize his treason against Camelot?"

"Yes," Aralynn admitted. "But he's changed, something in him, he's not-"

"He kept you captive for a year, he's lucky Gwaine didn't kill him on the spot. You are not to go to the dungeons and you are not to see him," Arthur said strictly. Then, he took a deep breath. "I'd hate to think of him hurting you because you are of royalty here."

"If he was going to hurt me, don't you think he would've by now?" Aralynn practically screamed. Aralynn then couldn't stop the tears from streaming. "Papa's right, you can be a prat sometimes."

With that, she stormed out the doors, ignoring as Arthur screamed. "Aralynn Igraine Pendragon you – Merlin, you're not helping."

Merlin was chuckling a bit. "She's not wrong…I have said that about you. I'm just a bit relieved we have her back, and I know both of us have such bad history with Mordred, but perhaps we must entertain the idea that she is right. He's kept her alive and well for a year and it seems he didn't give up a fight when it came to being brought to justice. I think that sometimes, no matter how horrid the person, second chances may eventually be in order."

"I almost died," Arthur said solemnly. "I almost was murdered and you were almost left a single father and sole king to your own devices. How can I forgive that?"

"You know, sometimes I asked the same question in the past about Uther," Merlin said softly. Arthur glared as Merlin kept speaking. "He barely knew me but treated me like lower than garbage. He knew you were attached to me from the start, and he was hell-bent on killing me to show you a lesson on how to deal quickly with pitiful grief. You remember the poisoned goblet I drank from for you? And how he crushed the cure you so bravely found for me claiming I wasn't worth saving? That happened on many of an occasion, and in the end, his second chance ended in our marriage and a family unlike I could ever have imagined. I think we may just consider the idea that Aralynn isn't stupid, and let her return to court in the morning."

Arthur sighed, raising from his seat and walking down to his husband. "I hate to admit when you are right, you know. But I perhaps must admit it again today."

"Alright, but for now you can finally slumber," Merlin said, wrapping an arm around Arthur and starting to walk them to their chambers.

"She's going to go to see Mordred tonight either way, isn't she?" Arthur said, groaning.

Merlin chuckled a bit. "She is our daughter. What do you expect?"

*In the Dungeons, Later at Night*

"Mordred?" Aralynn whispered, desperately hoping Gwaine had surpassed duty tonight.

"Ara?" A small voice replied from the cell. He drew closer, a worried expression on his face. "You shouldn't be here. I don't want your head on a platter as well."

"I'm the princess, they wouldn't dare," Aralynn said, giggling. "And, you are getting away from the chopping block, one way or the other my darling."

"My darling?"

"What? Is that too weird? I could say something else, I just wish I could've mooched the keys off of one of the guards," Aralynn said, smiling weakly. "I hate sleeping alone in my isolated chambers. It's too creepy in comparison to the close-quarters arrangement back home."

"Is this not your home?" Mordred asked softly.

"It was," Aralynn said, shrugging, sliding down the wall to sit with her side facing the cell. "I mean, it just seems my return has caused more of a focus on how much of a weak young woman I am, at least to them. Nobody listens to me still. Nothing seems to have changed. But out in the woods, at home, I can just be myself and act like myself and be strong and self-witted and skilled."

"I have another admittance to make," Mordred said. "Originally, when I took you in, I thought I was only doing so to take vengeance on Camelot. Make Arthur and Merlin suffer for the pain they put me through. However, it was only a day before I realized that wasn't going to be the case. You are one hell of a woman, Ara."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Aralynn said, reaching through the bars and taking his hand. "You have grown to be a much better person than your past, and a better accepting person than many I know could dream to be. No matter what happens, I will always love you for that."

"You love me?" Mordred said, grinning childishly.

"Yes," Aralynn said, thankful for the dark that could perhaps hide her flush. "I hope that doesn't upset you."

"It's just too bad you waited to say so until I was trapped in a cage," Mordred said, sighing dramatically. "I would respond much better if I wasn't trapped here."

"I look forward to it, then, tomorrow," Aralynn said. "I know I'm not supposed to do it, but I heard a bit of the inner thoughts of my papa while up there, and I think he's convinced father to bring you to court tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow then, you should go back up to sleep," Mordred warned softly. "They will not think well of me if you stay here all night."

"Sucks for them then, because I'm staying and sleeping beside your cell, because I don't want to be alone tonight," Aralynn said indignantly, letting loose Mordred's hand and curling up beside the cell.

"Do I have to sing to you tonight?" Mordred said tauntingly.

"Why else would I stay?" Aralynn said, laughing softly.

Mordred chuckled before softening his voice, lying across from her on the other side of the cell, and humming a soft lullaby to help them both drift off into a peaceful slumber.

*The Next Morning*

Merlin chuckled as he walked into the dungeons, seeing his daughter curled up beside the cell. He leaned down and tapped her shoulder. Aralynn was startled, and she began to defend herself. "I know what father said, but-"

"Aralynn, it's alright. Arthur expected it, as did I," Merlin said, taking a seat across from her. "So, what's the deal with you two? How serious is this? Say if we let him out of here, what would happen next?"

"I would ask he could stay in Camelot," Aralynn began. "And that perhaps he could live with us, if not with me specifically at first. Although I would prefer the latter, truthfully, I understand if there are rules against it. If you must know, nothing like that has happened between us yet. But I think it might sooner than later, and I'd hate to fight the whole of Camelot on it."

Merlin smiled. "You won't be fighting the whole of Camelot if you can assure us he has changed. And, it is a great start that he's kept you well and safe for so long."

"He's…he's done more than that," Aralynn said softly. "He made me feel like I could be myself. I could be witty and strong and intelligent, and no knights would think I'd need to be rescued. We could practice combat without him treating me too delicately, and he would talk to me like a person and not just some little helpless girl."

Merlin winced. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how hard it was. You know you could've spoken to your aunt who would've helped us understand. She is, after all, the best at confrontations around here. I still don't think you should be a knight, but if you must try out to be such I can speak to your father and see if he will give you the shot you deserve."

"Thank you papa," Aralynn said, reaching forward and pulling Merlin into a hug.

Merlin sighed. "I think you still have yet to greet Arthur, though. He's a bit upset he had to punish you among seeing you again. You know as I do that underneath the kingly exterior that he has a soft side. He just doesn't want to see you get hurt. Now, go on ahead."

Aralynn nodded and ran up the stairs, not stopping running until she was met back with the throne room, and stopped at the door. She cleared her throat. "Um, I know you don't like me very much right now, but can I come in?" Arthur looked over momentarily, nodded, and then looked away again. Aralynn approached her father slowly. "I am sorry, you know. I didn't lie. I did miss home."

"Not enough, apparently, to leave the company of a man that almost murdered your father to even write a letter," Arthur responded softly.

"Please, just stop this," Aralynn pleaded. "I don't want this madness, I really don't. Just let's not do this. I know there is duty to be done, and I know I am going to be grounded for a while. However, I've been gone for a year and you haven't even so much as looked at me."

Arthur finally stands up, and turns around to face his daughter. It's clear now that he had been crying, a lot. And not just over the night. It looks like he'd been crying for a year, and it looked about as if he hadn't slept for that long either. "Please, if you value my sanity, don't do that again."

Aralynn just nodded wordlessly and pulled Arthur into a big hug, and they were both crying heavily in the reunion. That would be just about the moment Merlin walked in with the guards and Mordred, which they took a little over a minute to notice.

Arthur pulled away when he noticed, composing himself taller as he addressed his daughter again. "What are we to do about him?"

"I know I am asking so much of you, which I understand fully. But he's not the same boy that tried to kill you all those years ago, to an age where I was too young to even remember. No, he's a different person. He's expelled himself from the beliefs of those who were against you and his time with me has proven that. What monster would treat royalty fairly?" Aralynn propositioned. "Mordred isn't the name it once was to Camelot, and to the prophecies. It should now be seen as a good name."

Merlin took his place beside Arthur, and put his hand on the other king's shoulder. Arthur looked between his husband and daughter, and smiled. "You still haven't actually answered my question."

"Because that's not an answer I can ask, only he can, because it's not about me," Aralynn said, gesturing for Gwaine and Percival to bring Mordred forward.

Arthur nodded, indicating it fine for the man to speak. Mordred sighed. "I had no family. When I was very young, my father was taken away from me into the hold and murder by Camelot because he was of magic. We were, by all means, just trying to find solace. I was young, I barely understood my craft. Merlin may even remember this, and that's fine. And I do thank the kindness of all of you for helping me escape before being condemned above the faults of pure magic. Also, I apologize. I ended up being handed over to people who, while they were the only family I had ever known and I did love them, were people that did simply not understand in the face of those who had been killed for their gifts. They told me that it was reason enough to use my own magic against Camelot, and over time I believed it was my only purpose in life. By the time I reached the battlefield, I knew nothing else but tales of the blood and gore that had been bestowed upon my people – Merlin, your people."

"So are you trying to tell us that you still feel this way towards Camelot, even as the laws-" Merlin began.

Mordred shook his head. "I'm not stupid. If I believed that, I would never set foot on these grounds again. I don't know if you understand, and I don't know if you can begin to understand. Merlin, perhaps you might. When someone becomes your family, all the people around you, when you have nowhere else to go…it may seem as if even the darkest of their decisions are agreeable. As I have moved past the years of mourning and hatred for the last of those I once considered my family being slain on the field, I had nothing. I was just a wonderer in the forest and utterly lacked purpose. Only, to years later, be trampled upon by your daughter."

"Trampled sounds a bit melodramatic," Aralynn said, blushing.

"Well, tripping and knocking me over sounds a little less graceful," Mordred said, laughing softly as he shook softly the grip of the knights, who were too keen on the story to pay attention. He reached forward and grasped Aralynn's hand. "I don't want to ask too much of you, as I have taken away your only child for a year. But I assure you she was taken care of, she was never taken advantage of, and she was treated as my equal. And, as long as you allow me to stay by her side, I assure you that things shall remain as such."

"They look just about as nervous as we did when we had this conversation, what was it, how many years ago now?" Merlin whispered into Arthur's ear.

The most genuine smile passed across Arthur's face as he faced Merlin and tried not to laugh as he turned them around to discuss in whispered tones. "They do look quite hilarious, and we aren't that scary, are we?"

Merlin leaned up to plant a kiss on his husband's lips. When he pulled away, he was chuckling. "No, I suppose not."

"You are still my idiot, you know," Arthur said, laughing under his breath.

"And you are still my prat," Merlin said, before they turned around again.

Arthur took a deep breath. "I will allow you to stay in Camelot with our daughter, under one condition."

"Anything," Mordred said with a smile on his face as he watched Aralynn beam beside him.

Merlin chimed in. "We need to know of your intentions for Aralynn, because, well…we're her fathers and if we are going to let you stay in the same room and give us both nightmares, quite honestly, we need to know that there's honorability in this whole arrangement."

Mordred laughs softly, and then leans forward to first whisper in Aralynn's ear. "I didn't quite mean for this to be so out of the blue, or so much in front of your parents. If it was though, would you mind?"

Aralynn's eyes went wide. "No, I suppose not," she whispered rather breathlessly.

"Well, good kings of Camelot, I wish to ask her hand in marriage, if she would have me as a husband – I don't know, we haven't really discussed this kind of thing or done anything like that but," Mordred was cut off by Aralynn.

"You are stumbling, my darling," Aralynn said smiling. Then, she giggled. "Wait, was the whole darling thing a little not-good? We haven't really discussed this, and I uh, oh yeah…sorry, this discussion can wait till later, huh? What do you think, father?"

Arthur took a moment. "I think, if it's alright with my idiot, I can agree to this. Idiot?"

"We promised to stop doing that, my prat," Merlin said, chuckling. "I'm the softie out of the two of us here, so of course it's a yes from me."

"Now, I'm afraid, you are the only one who hasn't answered my question," Mordred said, turning to Aralynn and kneeling on one knee, pulling out a ring from his pocket. "Well, I was kind of planning to do this anyways, I hope you don't mind."

"It's a yes, on one condition," Aralynn said softly.

"What's that?" Mordred asked, chuckling.

Aralynn smirked. "Nothing changes between us, really. How we are, how this is, it'll change. I won't be a housewife or helpless or unable to keep begging to be a knight. We'll both continue to be ourselves together and act the same and, well, yeah. Is that agreed?"

"I think I can manage that," Mordred said softly, slipping the ring onto her finger and then standing up again in front of her. "Wait, that was a yes, right princess?"

"Yes, my fool, it was," Aralynn said, leaning up to plant one soft kiss on Mordred's lips. When they pull away, they are both smiling. Then, they realize where they are, and look back to the front, blushing.

They only look up to find that Merlin and Arthur are sitting in a chair, Merlin on Arthur's lap, just talking and laughing and being utterly lively again.

"I guess this was a lesson for all of us, then," Gwaine whispered as he grasped Percival's hand.

"No," Percival responded quietly. "I think this was a lesson for Mordred."

"Do you think this story is over?" Gwaine asked. "I mean, beyond us sneaking off to the tavern again to have some ale?"

"I think, maybe, a new kingdom is coming. One where a villain becomes a king and two kings have found themselves again," Percival says, smiling brightly. "I think that this isn't the end, but it's the beginning of a fairytale. First Arthur had to learn his lessons, which only Merlin was meant to teach him. And then there was the one that everybody underestimated, everyone hated, and everyone thought was trash – who, instead of successfully killing a past king, will become a king himself through the marriage to a true queen."

"You think we'll still have to go through more lessons in Camelot, or is this the end?" Gwaine asked Percival playfully.

"Oh, Gwaine," Percival said, smirking. "There's always something new to be learned."

**Author's Note: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY. The cuteness made me happy, and I may continue to do one more round of lessons. This was the second, very different from the first, but I think beautiful in it is own way. Now Arthur has learned with Merlin, Mordred has learned the ways of good. What next? Should it be Morgana's next steps in life? (Morgana is now Mordred's adoptive mother, magic fact you miss if you don't read this little credits reel). Or should it be Aralynn, more about her life and how she goes on to royalty or possible knightship? Or is it a new member to Camelot? What do you think my lovely readers? Until the next time, I hope you enjoyed 'A Lesson for Mordred'.**


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